Pearl River Junction

41

Thomas climbed up through the hatch and tossed a fresh canteen to his brother.

“Thanks,” James said. “I ran out a little while ago.”

Thomas moved to the edge of the roof and looked around.

“Any sign of anythin’ at all?” he asked.

“No,” James said, putting the stopper in the canteen. He didn’t want to drain his brother’s supply of water. “Three days up here, Thomas, and nothing. You think Pa could be wrong?”

“Well, yeah, he could be wrong,” Thomas said, “but I wouldn’t want to bet against Pa, would you?”

“No,” James said.

“Maybe,” Thomas added, “it’s not Pa who’s wrong.”

“Whataya mean?”

“Maybe it’s Belinda.”

“Why are you always pickin’ on her?”

“James…”

“Okay, okay,” James said, “never mind. All right, let’s say she’s wrong. Then what?”

“That means that there’s not a gang comin’ this way.”

“So is that good news or bad news?”

“Both,” Thomas said. “Good news that there’s no gang, bad news ’cause we’re still here.”

“And no telegrams from any of the other lawmen?”

“No, nothing,” Thomas said. “Why don’t you head down, get somethin’ to eat?”

“Okay,” James said. “Thad’ll relieve you in three.”

“Good.”

James handed his brother the rifle they were sharing while on “roof” duty and went down through the hatch.

“What if you’re wrong?” Alvin Simon asked.

Belinda made sure the CLOSED sign was out and his shop door was locked. She pulled the shade down and turned to face him.

“What?”

“What if Jeb Collier is not on his way here with a gang?” he said.

Belinda crossed the floor and faced him.

“Even if Jeb comes alone, he’d kill you.”

“I’m not helpless, you know.”

“Against him, you would be.”

“Belinda—”

“He’s coming, Alvin,” she said confidently, “and he’ll have men with him.”

“Well, at least you got Shaye and his sons to stay and help.”

“They’re not doing that for me,” she said. “They’re staying to help the sheriff.”

“How are you doing with them?” Simon asked. “I mean, over at the sheriff’s house.”

“They’re treating me different,” she said. “They know something.”

“About us?” Simon asked eagerly.

“No,” she said, “and they’re not going to find out.”

Deflated, he asked, “About what, then?”

“Just about…well, me.”

“You have been pullin’ the wool over their eyes for a while now,” he said. “Maybe they sense something.”

“No,” she said, “maybe it was Dan Shaye. He probably told them something.”

“But you asked him not to,” Simon said. “Don’t tell me you couldn’t control him?”

“Don’t worry,” she said, “I will. He’s a man, after all.”

“And you can control any man?”

Suddenly she realized she may have said too much. She came around the counter, then put her arms around his waist and her head against his chest.

“Most men, honey,” she said, “but not you. You know the real me.”

He put his arms around her and held her tightly to him.

“You see right through me,” she lied.

“Yes,” he said, “I do.”

Riley Cotton and Dan Shaye were in the sheriff’s backyard, smoking cigars and watching Cotton’s wife play with Little Matt. They had become fairly good friends in the last few days.

“She really loves that kid,” Shaye said.

“Yeah, she does,” Cotton said. “I love watching them together. It would break her heart—and mine—if Belinda tried to take him away.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to work something out, Riley.”

“Whataya mean? Like buying him from her?”

“I get the feeling that once Belinda feels she’s safe from Jeb Collier, she’ll want to be on her way. And I’m not all that convinced she wants to take a child with her.”

“So you think she’ll just leave him here?”

“Maybe.”

“If she did that,” Cotton said, “we could adopt him. Marion would love that.”

“Sure, you could do that.”

“But…what about you?”

“What about me?”

“What if he is your grandson?”

Shaye puffed on his cigar for a few moments, considering how he should reply to that.

“Riley,” he finally said, “I don’t know if there’s any way we’ll actually be able to know that. And even if he is, I don’t see how my sons and I could ever give him the kind of home you and your wife could.”

“So you mean…you’d just leave him with us?”

Shaye slapped the sheriff on the back and said, “Why the hell not?”